*****WHAT’S UP, SENDAI?-  BY JUSTIN VELGUS*****

Weekly news, events, and recommendations from Justin Velgus, a long-term resident living in Tohoku’s largest city, in collaboration with Sendai English (https://sendaienglish.com)

Sunday, Nov 10, 2019, Issue No. 23-

• What’s New: 77 Bank Profits Dip, Online Casino Bust in Kokubuncho
• Upcoming Events: Sakunami Station Appreciation Festival
• Eat of the Week: Majumder Halal Food
• Connect/Network/Resource: Reading Sendai addresses
• Trivia: A “brief” history of Kokubuncho

What’s New:

  1. 77 Bank Profits Dip

The half-year interim financial results up to September for the 77 Bank (Tohoku’s largest bank and headquartered in Sendai) have lost profits due to the liquidation of two subsidiaries that were recorded at the same time last year. In the interim period, profit declined for the first time in 8 periods. Regular sales went up 1.1% thanks to dividends on securities, but final profit decreased 18.6% compared to the period last year. Not only the timing on these deals, but other factors also lead to losses.

Bank President Hidefumi Kobayashi commented, “The prospects for the prefecture’s economy are severe due to the calming of the reconstruction business and the impact of the (recent) typhoon. I want to boost economic revitalization.”

News Source  

   2. Online Casino Bust in Kokubuncho

On the night of Nov. 7^th, police raided a small business inside Kokubuncho which allowed customers to play illegal baccarat online. The 77 year old manager and his 73 year old employee, as well as two customers were arrested on suspicion of gambling. Police confiscated 9 computers and slips for gambling. According to police, the manager acknowledged that he knew what he was doing was illegal.

With Japan’s aging/shrinking population, I wonder if there will be an increase of elderly crime. I was impressed that the energetic seniors were so computer and crime savvy. Also, I wonder how much building owners/landlords are held responsible for illegal activities in their buildings under Japanese law. However, I believe most buildings in the area are managed by corporations, giving them some legal protection in any case.

News Source 

Upcoming Events:

1) Sakunami Station Appreciation Festival (Nov 16)

The Sakunami Station Appreciation Festival celebrates and thanks patrons of Sakunami Station, a vital and historic link to the Sakunami area. Sakunami is known for hot springs, nature, the Nikka Whisky Distillery, and Jogi Nyorai temple complex (aka easy side trips if you go). Looks a bit more exciting than your standard kill-time-on-the weekend festival since the station is involved.

Event time: Nov 16 (Sat) 11:00-13:00.

Schedule:
11:00 Taiko and Suzume Odori dance performances
11:30  Tour of train platform, railcar ride on the rails, imoni potato pot and dango free food!
13:00 Finish

*Train service is closed during the railcar ride service, so plant to arrive if early if coming by train.

Location: JR Sakunami Station (MAP).
Access: 35-40 minute train ride from Sendai Station towards Yamagata (Senzan Line). Depart at Sakunami Station.
Website: http://www.sakunami-spa.com/topics/topics01.html?id=76

Eat of the Week: Majumder Halal Food

A number of international students and an increasing number of tourists visiting Sendai from Muslim countries are seeking out Halal food options. There are several restaurants and at least one hotel I know of (Metropolitan) which serve tasty dishes that follow the religious guidelines of what is acceptable to eat.

Majumder Halal Food is known by all Muslim students in Sendai, but somewhere I only just visit recently. Located in the Sanjomachi neighborhood where Tohoku University student dorms can be found is a food market run by a Bangladesh Muslim. All the products are certified Halal. The snacks and instant noodles from India, Malaysia and Indonesia are popular with students. Hard to find seasonings and meat also mean shoppers can find the ingredients they need to make some homemade comfort food.

Address: 11-23 Shiheimachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi 981-0944 ( MAP )

Connect/Network/Resource: Reading Sendai addresses

For work on Friday I had to transliterate the Sendai neighborhood 白萩町 into Roman letters. Let’s see here… I know the meanings: first is “white,” then “bush clover”, Miyagi’s prefectural flower (“hagi”), and finally “town.” Though my mission was to figure out the reading. Was white going to be read as “shiro” “shira” or “haku?” Hagi is basically always “hagi,” so good there. And will town be read “machi” or “cho?” To the Japan Post website! The Japan Post (Japanese version) website has the readings of every address name across the country in カタカナ. So I just followed a few clicks to narrow down my search: Miyagi, Sendai, then which of 5 wards (I didn’t know, so did a simple Google search for this–it is Wakabayashi Ward), then got a long list of every neighborhood. You can scroll and find it or simply type “control + F” to do a page search function and paste that kanji into the search bar, ENTER, and you’ll get your answer. It takes about 10-15 seconds total and is accurate.

Website: https://www.post.japanpost.jp/cgi-zip/zipcode.php?pref=4

Weekly Trivia: A “brief” history of Kokubuncho

“Kokubuncho” is an adult playground of 2,500 or so restaurants, bars, and…um…”sexy shops.” Though the neighborhood is as old as the city itself, it has changed time and time again through economic cycles, war, societal changes, and city expansion.

For the longest time, the Kokubuncho area was a business center full of merchant houses and long-gone inns. Samurai processions from around Tohoku marched right down Kokubuncho Avenue on their way to feudal Tokyo (Edo) every year.

Visiting business owners and a few travelers, including famed haiku poet Matsuo Basho, stayed at inns in the area. Kokubuncho as a business capital was famous for its annual horse auction and rice logistics and sales. As the Sendai castle town grew and culture flourished, geisha houses and tea dealers such as the 300-year-old Bashoen filled the area. Some prostitution did happen at this time, but was generally near Nishi Koen Park along the Hirose River and not in Kokubuncho proper. Around the same time, Sendai’s high quality and abundant underground water was put to use to make miso, soy sauce, and sake in the neighborhood. Yes, at that time the area was known as a production–not consumption!– center of alcohol.

Meiji Restoration

1868 marked the Meiji Restoration in Japan and a big change for Kokubuncho. The end of the samurai and onslaught of western technology meant Kokubuncho was home to Sendai’s first post office (it moved after a few years). Shortly after came the rise of the Japanese military. Large German-style beer halls were set-up around Kokubuncho to host large groups of thirsty soldiers, though many businesses catering to the daily citizen were still around. During the Sendai Air Raid of WWII, all of downtown burned down to the ground. After the war, Inari Lane, the narrow north-south street running between the main street of Kokubuncho and Disney Store arcade, was constructed. That street would welcome the birth of robata-yaki style cooking and Sendai’s first gyutan store that started it all. There is also an Inari Shrine there, hence the name.

Surprisingly, even after everything burned down, businesses and inns were reconstructed again–still no sexy shops! Then the late 1960s and early 1970s saw everything change. Sendai Port and a new major distribution in Oroshimachi opened. Businesses clearly saw that moving closer to the new logistics center and out of the high-cost city center meant higher profits, so quickly left. The inns in the area lost many customers.

One hotel was converted to an apartment of small bars and restaurants–the current model of most buildings in Kokubuncho today. The bubble period of the 1980s saw a bit of glitz and glamor with high-priced hostess bars and crazy parties galore. The sexy shops were here and not even trying to hide. The early 1990s had a “pink problem” of risky services and private shows that were heavily advertised with flyers on the streets and posters everywhere. Citizen groups rallied, complained, protested, and pressured those businesses and the local government to stop the practice.

Today Kokubuncho is in another big transition with many factors happening at play. There was a brief boom after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami with tons of lucrative reconstruction money floating around, but as the bank president in our news article said, that’s basically all dried up. In the past few years the area around the station has been remodeled and is very attractive with easy access, cutting the number of customers going to Kokubuncho for food or drink. The aging buildings in Kokubuncho are falling apart. There is a new one every few months–with some being constructed to have larger restaurants to try and attract more groups, females, or dates.

Kokubuncho Today

People these days are still drinking, but drinking a lot less. People going out think “yokocho” back-alleys are more hip than Kokubuncho. The sexy shops still make enough money, though the number of tough-looking touts some nights could also keep away new customers. Still, the area has much charm if you know where to look. Amazing food and drinks, great live performances, and colorful characters you can’t meet anywhere else. There may be huge changes ahead, or small changes over a time, but one thing is for sure: Kokubuncho will never die.

***

Do you know “What’s Up?” in Sendai? Have an idea to share? Do you want to connect?

Message me at justinvelgus@gmail.com and write “What’s Up Connect” in the subject line.

See past issues of “What’s Up, Sendai?” or learn more about living in and enjoying Sendai on the Sendai English website: https://sendaienglish.com